Storming Six Nations sets Castrogiovanni up for his day in the sun

It said a lot for the condition of English rugby that, back in February when the national team were trying to put their Six Nations campaign back on the rails after defeat by Wales, only one Leicester Tiger started the following game in Rome. And he was wearing the blue of Italy.

Admittedly Ben Kay was among the red rose replacements but, when the South African referee Jonathan Caplan blew for the kick-off at Stadio Flaminio, only Martin Castrogiovanni was on the field to uphold the honour of a club famous for supplying a seemingly endless stream of England forwards. Mind you, Castrogiovanni did Leicester proud.

England, led by Steve Borthwick, had seen quite enough of the bearded Argentinian-born prop and his adopted compatriots by the time they left Rome. However, they were not the only ones to suffer. Castrogiovanni, cornerstone of the pack, was Italy's leading try-scorer - not bad for a prop. At Croke Park and Stade de France, the blue No3 shirt was at the heart of wrecking-ball rolling mauls which skittled Irish and French defences and at the Millennium Stadium Castrogiovanni became only the second - and final - man to cross the Welsh line in the championship when he clutched a wayward five-metre lineout and trampled over the smallest man on the field, Dwayne Peel.

For a player with more onerous duties to perform such days in the sun are rare. Nonetheless he was at it again a few weeks later, scoring something altogether more adventurous - from 15 yards, although he says 20 - when Leicester demolished Wasps in the EDF semi-final. He celebrated with a dive that commanded few marks for style but plenty for seismic impact. Three weeks on, in the middle of training for today's repeat of last year's final against the Ospreys, he is more circumspect: "It was a hole big enough for my grandmother to run through." Any suggestion that he has a touch of try fever is banished.

"For a prop to make a try it's something different," he says. "When you have the possibility to run with the ball it's something we enjoy a lot but a prop has to think about his job - the lineout, scrums and rucks. If you score a try, it's fun, happy days, but you can't do everything. A good prop is a guy who first can make a scrum and the scrum is about work. Eight people working together. I come from Argentina where the scrum is an important thing."

Lest anyone still question the seriousness with which he takes the job, it is worth reflecting on the single-mindedness Castrogiovanni showed - tricking his mother - to get into rugby in the first place. Stella, it seems, preferred her 18-year-old son to play basketball, relenting only when he faked an attack on a referee - more a push than a punch, he says - to get himself banned.

Castrogiovanni, born in Paraná, south of Buenos Aires, joined Atlético Estudiantes, made the Argentinian Under-19 team and quickly began contemplating a move to Europe and Italy, the home of his great grandfather. Half that Under-19 side went on to represent the Pumas when they reached the World Cup final last autumn and it is a racing certainty that Castrogiovanni would have been among them had he not signed first for Calvisano and then, two seasons ago, for Leicester. He has regrets about the move to Europe - "it was the hardest choice, leaving my friends and family" - but not about signing for Leicester.

Since then he has won cups and championships, been voted Player of the Year in the Guinness Premiership and, along with the All Black Carl Heyman at Newcastle, has become one of the most feared tight-heads in the league. The physique which his Atlético coach first spotted as near-perfect for an international prop is intimidating. He stands at 6ft 2in and weighs a little under 20st. But the really frightening thing is that Castrogiovanni is only 26, has recently signed a three-year extension to his Leicester contract and could still be playing in 10 or 12 years.

Will he? Castrogiovanni doubts it. "I know props can go on to 36 or 38 but rugby is becoming really hard and, if you play too many games, you feel tired. I think now you can't play every game because it's too much for the body." Remember, though, this is the man who doubted whether he had a career there in the first place. "When you start playing prop you don't feel right. Your body hurts and you suffer a lot, particularly at tight-head. So after a few games I say I want to play back row, but my coach says 'No, no. You have the size, you play in the front row.'"